Opening night jitters

One of the big casualties of my move to Oxfordshire, surprisingly, was my holiday plans. As most readers will know, I now work in Formula One, which has a fixed summer holiday mandated by the governing body. That meant passing on the British Championships for the first time in almost a decade, though truthfully I wasn't too sad about it: for one thing it would have sullied the memory of my magic week in 2018 to make another trip to Hull, and for another I have routinely given away dozens of rating points in every British since that one.

I did want to play some chess though, and thankfully a worthy substitute appeared which did fit within the holidays. The Kingston Invitational, now in its third edition, had expanded from an APA to a Swiss tournament, and I remain enough of a Surrey player to scrape an invite as, after a few withdrawals, the very bottom seed. I was a bit nervous about that, since there would be nowhere to hide if I was off form and momentum can easily snowball with two games a day, however it was obviously an opportunity as well. I was the penultimate seed in the 2018 British...

I'd hardly played since April, although I had been studying in the background and felt reasonably prepared if I could overcome the rustiness. In the end it turned out fairly well after an inevitably slow start, though with highs and lows, and since there is much to learn from the games I've decided on the rare treat of blogging every round. We start then on a scorching August afternoon with round 1, where I had the black pieces against 2189-rated Robert Willmoth. As this was the only single-round day of the tournament I'd had a chance to look at his games quite carefully, and realised he has a very pronounced low-risk style, with a clear taste for endings and a lot of drawn games. Nevertheless I expected to be low-rated enough that he would want to win, and indeed he did. However my lack of practice certainly played its part:

[Event "Kingston Invitational"] [Site "?"] [Date "2024.08.12"] [Round "1.21"] [White "Willmoth, Robert F"] [Black "Young, Daniel J"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A48"] [WhiteElo "2189"] [BlackElo "2017"] [Annotator "Young,Daniel J"] [PlyCount "95"] [EventDate "2024.??.??"] [SourceVersionDate "2024.08.18"] {I was able to use my lingering Surrey connections to get into this year's Kingston Invitational, one of the toughest tournaments I've ever known. Not only was I bottom seed, but the format of two games a day with limited preparation time and a relatively quick time control (90 minutes for all moves + 30 seconds/move) did not play to my strengths. On the other hand I often overperform against strong opposition, so I was hoping to at least not make a fool of myself.} 1. d4 {(1:08) I started the event sitting around for 20 minutes waiting for my opponent to arrive. Apparently this is standard fare with him, though in fairness the tournament venue was surrounded by roadworks. Nevertheless I have a terrible score in games where my opponent has arrived late, and took it as a bad omen.} Nf6 {(1:30)} 2. Nf3 g6 3. Bg5 {The Torre Attack. Willmoth is mostly playing 3. e3 followed by Be2 and c2-c4, but he had a small number of games with this too and I correctly guessed he would try, unsuccessfully, to dodge my preparation: this was the only single-round day of the event and the only game I felt truly ready for.} Bg7 4. c3 O-O 5. Nbd2 d6 6. e4 {White can also play in the stereotyped 'old man' style with e3, though he can hardly expect any advantage that way. Black should respond with ...Qe8 to unpin, followed by ...e5. The text is more ambitious, though theory has established that White cannot keep his pristine centre intact.} h6 7. Bh4 c5 8. dxc5 {This modest choice is the main line, as more stubborn moves offer White nothing at best.} (8. Bd3 $6 cxd4 9. cxd4 {would be White's ticket in a dream world, but in this one the d-pawn comes under too much pressure. The adventurous dark-squared bishop turns out to be misplaced on h4.} Nc6 {White is loathe ever to play d4-d5, giving away all of the central dark squares to the monster on g7, however} 10. Nb3 $2 {fails to} (10. O-O {is relatively best according to the computer, even though it loses a pawn to} g5 {(gaining a tempo on the luckless bishop)} 11. Bg3 g4 $15 {; the resulting holes on the kingside would at least offer White a bit of play for it.}) 10... Bg4 11. O-O Qb6 $17 {and the pawn is too loose.}) (8. d5 {White isn't developed enough to go into a Benoni structure; c2-c3 and Bg5-h4 are out of place here.} e6 {The best hope of bailing out here is} 9. Bc4 exd5 10. Bxf6 (10. Bxd5 $2 {leads to a strategically lost position after} g5 11. Bg3 Nxd5 12. exd5 f5 {and the g3 bishop is suffocated.} 13. h3 Re8+ 14. Kf1 f4 15. Bh2 b5 $19 {White's kingside pieces are entombed and the d5 pawn is doomed in the long run.}) 10... Qxf6 11. Bxd5 Nc6 $11 {Stockfish evaluates the position as equal, but with two bishops in the bank and easy development I would definitely prefer Black. The d-pawn is only a weakness if it can be attacked!}) 8... dxc5 9. Bc4 Nc6 10. Qe2 {(1:12) The main thing to be aware of in this variation is that, whilst it's broadly harmless, White can get a bind going if he can engineer e4-e5. The text move is a well-known part of this plan, but it's more usual to castle first and I misremembered my preparation here.} Nh5 {(1:26) The most-played move, and a thematic one for this line, heading for f4. There isn't anything wrong with it, but it's not what I had prepared! This demands calculation of me unnecessarily.} (10... Na5 {is offered by Jones. Almost everyone plays the obvious retreat} 11. Bd3 $6 {, which surprisingly leads to trouble for White after} (11. Bxf6 {is the computer's surprising choice, which should be met by} exf6 $1 $15 {with pressure on e4 as well as the two bishops, which more than offsets the slight damage to Black's pawns.}) (11. e5 $6 {is too ambitious;} Nh5 {threatens ...Nf4 again, and once White meets that threat by} 12. O-O {, Black simply continues} Nxc4 13. Nxc4 Qc7 $15 {with mounting pressure on the over-extended e-pawn.}) 11... Nh5 12. Bg3 (12. Qe3 Nf4 $1 {is the main point, exploiting the loose bishop on d3}) 12... Be6 $15 {Black can remove the g3 bishop whenever he wants, and in its absence White's queenside structure is less solid than it looks, as is well known from, e.g., the ...c6 lines of the Reti.}) 11. Qe3 {Here is the difference. White apparently clears a retreat for the light-squared bishop with tempo by attacking c5, and at the same time prevents ...Nf4. I was loath to make my next move, and with good reason, but I couldn't find anything better and now had to contend with the niggling feeling that I had gone wrong somewhere.} b6 $6 {Again this is the most-played move, but it does nothing to help Black's development and weakens the light squares on the queenside. White is now effectively a move up on the usual lines, and some creativity was called for to avoid this.} (11... Na5 $142 $1 {can be played after all. Now if White calmly retreats the bishop to e2 (as he should) the black queen goes to c7 as is normal in this variation, fighting for the e5 and f4 squares, and now conveniently defends c5 as well. But, the reader may ask, what happens if White plays the obvious} 12. Qxc5 $6 {winning a pawn? Well, accepting the dare is a bit too risky with the white king in the centre:} Nxc4 13. Qxc4 (13. Nxc4 $6 Qd3 {illustrates the point starkly; Black has the deadly threat of 14... Nf4 mating, and on} 14. Bg3 Be6 15. Ne3 Rfc8 $17 {sacrifices are looming on c3 whilst White's king remains stranded.}) (13. Bxe7 $2 {is a failed intermezzo on account of} Nxb2 $1 {and Black wins material because of the impending fork on d3.} 14. Bxd8 Nd3+ 15. Kf1 Nxc5 $19) 13... Be6 14. Qc5 g5 15. Bg3 Qd3 {This move again! White has to expel the queen and connect his rooks, however this can only be done by surrendering the queenside to its fate (cf. the concluding comment on 10... Na5 above).} 16. Qe3 Qc2 17. O-O Qxb2 $17) 12. O-O Qc7 13. Bg3 {I had noticed from playing over Willmoth's games beforehand that he has a clear taste for simplification. I was slightly surprised by this offer to trade, but as a means of clarifying the position it makes sense: now there are no ...Nf4 raids, and Black has to try and find some other way of getting counterplay.} Nxg3 14. hxg3 e6 {This was another move I didn't really want to play, since the bishop would ideally come into play via its home diagonal. Sometimes when things have gone slightly wrong you have to make compromises.} (14... Na5 {was what I wanted to play, however I didn't like the look of} 15. Bd5 $6 {, which of course is a direct consequence of my unhappy 11th move. I was seeing ghosts here though, since} (15. Be2 {should be preferred, when either the routine 15... Rd8 or the more ambitious} c4 $5 $11 {are fine for Black now that White's temporary activity has died down}) 15... Rb8 16. b4 $5 {is not as terrifying as I thought.} cxb4 17. cxb4 {Black can get away with} Bxa1 {(mercifully White's dark-squared bishop is already missing in action)} 18. Rxa1 {and whilst Black would be in big trouble if the attacked knight had to move, he has the intermediate move} e6 $8 {(neutralising the idea of Qxh6 and Qxg6+)} 19. bxa5 exd5 20. exd5 Kg7 21. Nc4 Bd7 22. Rc1 $44 {White has fair compensation for the exchange, with active pieces and a strong passed d-pawn. My feeling is that the computer is underestimating White's chances, at least in practice, however rooks do like open positions!}) 15. Rfe1 {(1:01)} Na5 {(49)} 16. Bf1 e5 {This might seem odd so soon after playing ...e6, however I wanted to rule out e4-e5. For the moment White has no way to seize the d5 square, and if I can play ...Be6 and ...Nc6 in comfort there will be nothing to fear. Therefore I was fully expecting White to resort to forcing measures.} 17. b4 cxb4 {The computer marginally prefers to route the knight to d6, and if Black doesn't intend to go through c6 then I needn't hurry to open the c-file for White's rooks. Still, the move played should be fine as well - one upside of this move is that White loses his grip on the d4 square, and so the hole on d5 is now cancelled out.} (17... Nb7 {The computer marginally prefers to route the knight to d6. I have to admit though that I struggled to look beyond a fianchettoed knight!} 18. Bc4 cxb4 {(only once White has blocked the c-file)} 19. cxb4 Nd6 20. Bd5 Bb7 21. Rac1 Qe7 $11 {Given the symmetrical structure, Black is in no danger once he safely completes development.}) 18. cxb4 Nc6 19. Rac1 Qd6 20. b5 {(51)} Nd4 {(36) I rightly sensed that I should be OK here, but this sunny mood was not fated to last for long.} 21. Nc4 Qe7 $2 {An appalling lapse, and what's more one that was played after 5 minutes' thought. I did realise that my knight was a tactical liability, but somehow I only considered 22. Nfxe5 which doesn't achieve anything. I was considering 21... Nxf3+ in any case, but it seemed a shame to trade away my knight so quickly. Inevitably, I realised my oversight as soon as I'd moved. I was nervous at how I would play after only one standardplay game since late April (I have enough sluggish starts in Major Opens to recognise this phenomenon, but there were no convenient tournaments in the preceding weeks besides a Golders Green rapid) and now I had an answer.} (21... Nxf3+ $142 {should of course be played.} 22. gxf3 Qf6 23. Nb2 Bd7 24. Bc4 h5 $11 {White is perhaps slightly more active, however with the path open for Black's rooks, two bishops and prospects for kingside counterplay with a later ...h4, I think the second player is alright here.}) 22. Ncxe5 {Of course. So infantile!} Nxf3+ 23. Nxf3 $16 {I was hoping that the two bishops would give me hope of conjuring something, however I am undeveloped and White's position offers no real targets, so I have nothing like enough compensation for the lost pawn.} Rd8 $6 24. Bc4 $6 {White's next move would have been equally crushing if played now. The d8 rook, alas, belongs on f8.} Bb7 $6 {And here I should have neutralised the a2-g8 diagonal with ...Be6. Trying to preserve the two bishops is overoptimistic, and my next move admits this was purely a lost tempo.} 25. e5 $1 $18 {(46) White's pieces are all on good squares and he rightly decides to move in for the kill. Ripping the position open with 26. e6 is a serious threat, besides which Black has Nd4-c6 to contend with.} Bd5 {(21)} 26. Nd4 Bxc4 27. Rxc4 Rd5 {Everything is running smoothly for White, but now comes a terrible mutual oversight:} 28. Qe4 $4 Qd7 $4 {Protecting the rook and pre-empting an attack with Nc6. But why didn't I just take on e5?} (28... Qxe5 $142 {Frankly, that's a question I can't answer. Did I really not see this move? I remember noting that Rxd5 hangs the other rook, but the text regains the pawn without any fuss.} 29. Qxe5 Bxe5 30. Nc6 Bf6 {White can get two rooks on the seventh, but has to abandon his b-pawn to do it.} 31. Ne7+ Bxe7 32. Rxe7 Rxb5 33. Rcc7 Rf5 $11 {White has nothing better than trading rooks to win the pawn on a7, producing a clearly drawn single rook ending.}) 29. f4 $6 {29. e6 was even better, but even so White is back on track with a material advantage and total control.} Rd8 30. Nc6 {(30)} Re8 {(12)} 31. Rd4 {Beginning to exchange all of the pieces. Evidently I'd read my opponent correctly, but it was little comfort.} Rxd4 $8 32. Qxd4 Qg4 33. Qe3 Bf8 34. Qf3 Bc5+ 35. Kh2 {(22)} Qe6 {(11)} 36. g4 $6 {White is no particular hurry given Black's abject lack of counterplay, so there was no reason not to take a time-out to defend the loose pawn with 36. a4. Still, that's just a point of technique rather than a serious mark against White's play, as he is completely winning either way.} Qxa2 37. f5 Qf2 $2 {Black can hardly leave his queen offside, and with my king feeling rather lonely it seemed natural to trade queens. However this was a shallow assessment that ignores the static factors in the position: even though I have my pawn back, White's mobile pawn majority and the fixed weakness on a7 make the endgame hopeless.} (37... Qc4 $142 {After the game Willmoth suggested that I'd reached equality if I hadn't traded queens, which struck me as an illuminating comment if only because it was so doubtful: despite appearances White's king is much safer than mine, and he has a decisive advantage in this case too. Nevertheless, keeping queens on would have offered better practical chances.} 38. Rd1 gxf5 {Counter-intuitive, but the idea is to bring the black queen back to the kingside.} (38... Qxb5 {If the queen wanders off then} 39. e6 g5 40. exf7+ Kxf7 41. Rd7+ Kf8 42. Qc3 $18 {and Black's king cannot survive.}) 39. gxf5 Qh4+ 40. Qh3 Qe4 41. Qh5 $18 {White's king will be safe on h1, and Black's counterpart cannot say the same. Stockfish offers the desperate} Rxe5 42. Nxe5 Qxe5+ 43. Kh3 Bd6 {, however Black will inevitably run out of steam given the reduced forces still on the board.} 44. Qg4+ Kf8 45. Qf3 Qh2+ 46. Kg4 h5+ 47. Kg5 Qe5 {Now 48. g3 would be sufficient to win, but the easiest is} 48. Rxd6 Qxd6 49. f6 $1 $18 {and Black is finished despite his extra pawn - in queen endings, king safety is often of paramount importance.}) 38. Qxf2 Bxf2 39. Re2 Bc5 40. Kg3 {(16) Black can only mark time whilst White transfers his king to the queenside.} g5 {(5)} 41. Kf3 Kg7 42. Ra2 Ra8 43. Ke4 Kf8 44. Kd5 Ke8 45. e6 {(14)} f6 {(1)} 46. Rxa7 Rxa7 47. Nxa7 Kd8 48. Kc6 {There is no defence to 49. Kb7 and 50. Nc8, winning the b6 pawn. This was a miserable start to the tournament for me... the only saving grace was that I didn't analyse it until weeks after, and in the excitement of later rounds I was able to forget all about it. My rustiness showed here; thankfully the cobwebs were much less evident in the remaining rounds.} 1-0

I suppose the best that can be said for this game is that it at least wasn't as bad as the warm-up rapidplay tournament I entered the previous weekend, where I had a mate in one against the top seed and missed it. (Though still drew!) I am becoming a habitually slow starter at big tournaments, clearly because I'm not very active over the summer: there are fewer opportunities to play, so I tend to focus on other interests for a bit and the process is self-perpetuating.

It's hard to say that a game decided by two crass oversights (21... Qe7? and 28... Qd7??) is the most enlightening, but nevertheless there are some instructive points. I was unduly thrown by the slight adjustment to the usual move order in 10. Qe2, and was so fixated on the one idea I'd really absorbed from my preparation - don't let White play e4-e5 in comfort - that I forgot my intended move order. Effective preparation is about understanding the positions as much as memorising precise sequences, and whilst I did well to anticipate a Torre Attack I didn't really grasp it, and got bogged down worrying about micro-problems. Much later, 37... Qf2? was also a very bad decision. Even though other moves were also losing, I panicked in the face of an attack and rushed to trade queens without stopping to consider the consequences. That made it very easy for Willmoth to wrap the game up, and was especially careless considering I'd noticed beforehand that he likes simplification.

Not a great start for me, but my opponent played a good game apart from the mutual lapse on move 28 and deserved to win. Thankfully there were eight more rounds to come. Round 2 was a rare venture into the Open Sicilian and a nervy struggle on both sides.